In Depth Look at the UConn Basketball Senior / Graduate Class
Slowly but surely, we’re getting closer to the start of the 2025-26 NCAA basketball season, and we are upon the final edition of my class overviews. We’ve already reviewed Connecticut’s freshmen and juniors and now finish on the seniors and graduate students. Much like each of the other two groups, this one includes an interesting array of stories. Some are a shoo-in for a starting role, others project as role players and a few are going to help more in practice than anything else. Let’s discuss each one and review what they bring to the table.
ALEX KARABAN
Alex Karaban was a starter on two national championship squads, as a piece that enhanced those around him. He was never more than a fourth or fifth option on either of those teams, but he made a lot of subtle and important plays while hitting some big shots. With everyone who had been ahead of him his first two years departing, Karaban was put into a huge role in 2024-25. People projected him to be an All-America selection and the pressure was high.
Needless to say, Karaban didn’t have the season he hoped for. He did have some great games but it felt like every step forward was met with a step back. The efficiency wasn’t nearly as good as in previous years and his point totals were underwhelming too. It felt like many teams knew exactly what was coming and it frustrated Karaban, creating something of a vicious cycle. As such, UConn exited in the first round.
This year, the Huskies should be better positioned to fit Karaban’s strengths. Transfer PG Silas Demary Jr. will be able to take some of the heat off Karaban from a playmaking perspective and the freshman/ other new additions should make his life easier from a scoring standpoint. Karaban plays best when he’s not the focal point of the scoring or playmaking. He’s a glue guy who holds everything together and makes the gears turn correctly when he has good pieces around him. It isn’t a bad thing, it’s just who he is. This year’s team suits him much better.
TARRIS REED JR.
Reed Jr. had a bit of a bizarre season last year. He backed up starting center Samson Johnson, but as a result of being a more effective center and Johnson’s foul trouble, Reed played more minutes. The incoming senior’s 9 points and 7 rebounds per game won’t raise any eyebrows, but he showed some serious potential and skill in various moments. His 24 point, 18 rebound and 6 block game against Providence was probably the second-best individual performance of any Husky this past year (right after Liam McNeeley’s 38-point game at Creighton), demonstrating everything he’s capable of. The aggression he showed in that game was not consistent though as he would often no-show, being more like a panda than an aggressive Kodiak bear.
Dan Hurley would often talk of Reed’s potential if he could bottle that aggression up and really channel it on a daily basis, because he’s unstoppable when he does. Doing that is the key to success for Reed. He’s surely going to start in front of freshman big Eric Reibe and his spot in the lineup should be a sure thing. But his effectiveness is going to be a huge factor in the team’s success this year. The Huskies have succeeded when their centers are stars (Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan to name a few). If Connecticut wants a third title in four years, Reibe and Reed need to be an on-point and aggressive duo.
MALACHI SMITH
For anyone who needs a quick comparison for what to expect from Smith, think about Hassan Diarra but with enhanced offense. The Dayton transfer projects to fill a similar role this year that Diarra did in 2024’s championship team, projecting to be the squad’s backup point guard. Standing at 6-feet and coming from New York City, the comparisons draw themselves. Smith scored 10 points per game and added 5 assists for a Dayton team that found themselves on the NCAA tournament’s bubble for the majority of the year. Their biggest highlight was a demolition of Connecticut in the 8th place game of the Maui Invitational that did not go well for either team.
Smith’s 3-point stroke is excellent, hitting on 38% of his chances. His assist rate is in the top 15 nationally, which also resembles Diarra’s ability to get his teammates involved. In a college basketball landscape that values shooting and passing so much, Smith is a perfect fit for the Huskies. His lack of size isn’t ideal, but he adds enough else that there won’t be major concerns. Expect Smith to start the season as the backup PG, but needing to do a fair bit as Demary Jr. adapts to the point guard position. As Demary Jr. gets more comfortable, Smith could scale back his role, but his ability to hit big shots in key moments will be valuable and make him easy to plug and play, likely in ~15 minutes per game.
DWAYNE KOROMA
Koroma is a bit of a peculiar case, because he has some numbers that are absolutely through the roof, but he was on one of the worst teams in the country last year, Le Moyne, who lost to UConn by 41. Per KenPom, his effective FG% is No. 2 in the country, his true shooting percentage is No. 11 and his 2-point field goal percentage is No. 11. No player should be able to get to the basket that efficiently and still be on such a bad team. Either the team should have used him more and won more or used him more and then he would be stopped more frequently.
Regardless, Koroma doesn’t project as anything more than a fringe role player for Connecticut. Maybe last year he could have been in play for a spot in the rotation, but he’s more here this year to push the starters in practice and be there to step in if there are injuries. He has plenty of experience–four schools already–and should be a good presence to have in the locker room. But with Karaban and Jaylin Stewart occupying almost all the minutes at the power-forward spot, there just isn’t room for him to contribute.
ALEC MILLENDER
Like Koroma, Millender spent last season as a solid player on a very poor team. His IU Indy squad was around the 50th worst team nationally, but he did some things very well. Millender was among the best shooters in the nation, hitting on 43% of his attempts. That mark is good for No. 70 in the country. He came to IU Indy from D-III Wayne State, where he also played well. None of his teams at Wayne State were excellent though, generally finishing around .500.
Best case scenario is that he’s a Joey Calcaterra-lite, but even that seems a bit optimistic. Millender is the third point guard on the depth chart behind Demary Jr. and Smith, and like Koroma, just doesn’t have the opportunity to expand his role. Even with his shooting prowess, Millender is on the smaller side–6-foot-1, 185 lbs–and isn’t a premier defender. That’s what it takes to get minutes at UConn, so much more likely is that he’s a practice/depth player on scholarship. Hard to see him as much more.
